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Police investigating former city employee for embezzlement BY BRANDON MACZ BELLEVUE REPORTER
Bellevue Police claim the city's former recreation program coordinator admitted to embezzling more than $100,000 in government funds that were documented for children's sports T-shirts, but were actually used to resolve debt brought on by an addiction to gambling. Heather Christoff worked for the city of Bellevue for 10 years before resigning from her position Jan. 16. She is alleged by police in an ongoing investigation of admitting to using city-issued credit cards belonging to both her subordinates and supervisors to make fictitious T-shirt purchases for children's sports and recreation programs.
According to an affidavit for search warrant filed Monday by a Bellevue Police fraud detective, an investigation began in November after the administrator for the city of Bellevue's Procurement Card (ProCard) Program identified inconsistencies with receipts received related to purchases through the Parks and Community Services Department. Inconsistencies were founds on credit cards assigned to subordinates of Christoff and superiors, including the community services manager, administrative assistant and community relations coordinator. These included expenditures in 2012 double what were calculated for 2011 and more than $102,000 in the first 10 months of 2013.
Those increases were connected to 73 ProCard transactions with a PayPal account for “mysimplet,” a fictitious T-shirt company made up by Christoff, which totaled more than $100,000, according to the affidavit. None of the ProCards used were actually issued to Christoff. Ted Mittelstaedt, the city's community services manager, told the detective he allowed Christoff to use his credit card when asked, but denied making 14 of the documented transactions with mysimplet. The administrative assistant and and community relations coordinator likewise stated they allowed Christoff to use their credit cards. “They just assumed that she was making legitimate purchases with their credit
cards,” the affidavit states. Mittelstaedt also stated he didn't review the paperwork for the ProCard purchases that had reportedly been made by Christoff 's subordinates as that was part of her responsibilities, according to the affidavit. Mittelstaedt told the fraud detective that Christoff had come to him in 2012 with a request to change T-shirt vendors. Police did determine more than 1,000 shirts were purchased from a legitimate vendor out of Seattle in 2013. A search warrant served on PayPal found Christoff had changed the credit card statement associated with her account several times, with some made to look like they SEE EMBEZZLEMENT, 3
Pillo defends decision on discipline of officer
SHARING SCHOOL DAYS MEMORIES
BY BRANDON MACZ BELLEVUE REPORTER
Bellevue Police Chief Linda Pillo defended her decision Feb. 27 to remove one of her officers from the city’s bomb squad as discipline for the 22-year veteran of the force drinking alcohol while on-call and driving his department-assigned vehicle. Dion Robertson had Linda Pillo been attending a Bellevue Swat Team appreciation event Nov. 10 at the Issaquah Brewhouse. A fellow officer reported to supervisors witnessing the officer consume two beers before getting into a bomb squad truck and driving to another officer’s house where he continued drinking. Robertson’s removal from the bomb squad represents a 4-percent pay cut. Pillo said in the press conference she followed the practice of progressive discipline based on labor laws. He was removed from his supervisory role with the bomb squad in 2012 after he and another officer were found to be drunk and disorderly at a Seahawks game in September of that year. That other officer, Andrew Hanke, resigned
Daniel Farber, who finished Phantom Lake Elementary in 1967, jokes with ‘61 alum Gail Frank. Yeizo Masunaga, who attended the school in the ‘30s, sits next to Frank in the background. Story, photos on page 4. DANIEL NASH, Bellevue Reporter.
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